Climate Change Data

Vanasse Hangen Brustlin, Inc. (VHB)

Climate Impact & Sustainability Data (2021, 2023)

Reporting Period: 2021

Environmental Metrics

Total Carbon Emissions:Not disclosed
Scope 1 Emissions:Not disclosed
Scope 2 Emissions:Not disclosed
Scope 3 Emissions:Not disclosed
Renewable Energy Share:Not disclosed
Total Energy Consumption:Not disclosed
Water Consumption:Not disclosed
Waste Generated:Not disclosed
Carbon Intensity:Not disclosed

ESG Focus Areas

  • Environmental
  • Social
  • Governance

Environmental Achievements

  • Relaunched VHB Green Team with 160+ members (nearly 10% of the company)
  • Hosted Strategic Foresight meeting on climate change
  • Earth Day Celebrations: VHB Energy Super Hero Challenge and Watershed cleanups

Social Achievements

  • $272,936 donated to charity through corporate and employee donations
  • 900 hours of estimated volunteer service provided on company time
  • Improved employee engagement score to 82% (top quartile of top U.S. professional services firms)
  • Held three Community Conversations, including one on Mental Health Awareness
  • Increased percentage of women employees for two consecutive years during the pandemic
  • $9,121,363 spent on diverse subcontractors and subconsultants (23.25% of overall payments)

Governance Achievements

  • Established ESG Strategy Team and governance structure
  • Began drafting ESG Statement and ESG Oversight Committee charter
  • Achieved near 100% completion rate for Code of Conduct training
  • Established an Internal Investigations Process and database tool
  • Conducted risk assessment exercises with senior leadership

Climate Goals & Targets

Long-term Goals:
  • Submit Letter of Intent to SBTi to establish an emissions reduction target in alignment with their Net-Zero Standard
Medium-term Goals:
  • Establish a climate action group
  • Expand the Sustainability Community of Practice
Short-term Goals:
  • Create a formal process for collecting data and managing and reporting on ESG performance
  • Align ESG reporting with third-party frameworks
  • Establish and communicate ESG targets
  • Develop project sustainability metrics
  • Create an Applied Sustainability Plan

Environmental Challenges

  • Collecting data from landlords, vendors, and supply chain partners for accurate GHG emissions calculations
  • Balancing work and family for employees, especially during the pandemic
Mitigation Strategies
  • Working with landlords, vendors, and supply chain partners to establish data-sharing and analysis processes
  • Offering new benefits and significantly expanding parental leave policy

Supply Chain Management

Supplier Audits: Not disclosed

Responsible Procurement
  • Supplier diversity initiatives
  • Strive to meet or exceed DBE goals

Climate-Related Risks & Opportunities

Physical Risks
  • Not disclosed
Transition Risks
  • Not disclosed
Opportunities
  • Not disclosed

Reporting Standards

Frameworks Used: GHG Protocol, Envision

Certifications: Null

Third-party Assurance: Not disclosed

UN Sustainable Development Goals

  • Not disclosed

Not disclosed

Sustainable Products & Innovation

  • Not disclosed

Awards & Recognition

  • Numerous awards listed in the report (see Awards, Visibility & Thought Leadership section)

Reporting Period: 2023

Environmental Metrics

Total Carbon Emissions:23750 tCO2e/year
Scope 1 Emissions:1111 tCO2e/year
Scope 2 Emissions:1149 tCO2e/year
Scope 3 Emissions:21241 tCO2e/year

ESG Focus Areas

  • Environment
  • Social
  • Governance

Environmental Achievements

  • Publicly committed to setting targets in alignment with SBTi’s Net-Zero Standard.
  • Developed a Net-Zero Action Plan to establish a roadmap for pursuing emission reduction initiatives.

Social Achievements

  • Extended Parental/Caregiver Leave to offer all eligible new parents up to four weeks of bonding time.
  • Expanded the second Parent Expo with additional vendors and parent volunteers.
  • Increased the number of benefits-focused events.
  • Enhanced the visibility of our Benefits and People + Culture teams.
  • Partnered with Tufts University to financially and pragmatically support a VHB Fellowship from the Racial Equity Policy & Planning Program for the next two years.
  • Added questions to the annual employee engagement survey to improve insight and track employee sentiment regarding inclusion.
  • Increased B2B @ VHB supplier diversity office networking events and created a process to track the impact of outreach efforts to MWDBEs and other diverse owned businesses.

Governance Achievements

  • Rolled out Confidentiality Policy in collaboration with IT.
  • Developed Supplier Code of Conduct and built into VHB subcontracts and Supplier Gateway.
  • Completed Navex Code of Conduct training.
  • VHB’s Board of Directors nominated its first Lead Independent Director (LID).

Climate Goals & Targets

Long-term Goals:
  • Achieve Net-Zero emissions
Medium-term Goals:
  • Submit proposed GHG emission reduction targets to SBTi for validation.
Short-term Goals:
  • Begin executing priority initiatives within VHB’s Net-Zero Action Plan to reduce GHG emissions.

Environmental Challenges

  • VHB’s absolute emissions across all Scopes have increased by 21.8% (4,255 tons) since our 2019 base year.
  • Scope 3 emissions rose 25.4% (4,308 tons) above 2019 levels and 26.1% (4,399 tons) above 2022.
  • Fleet vehicle emissions now at 81.6% of total Scope 1 emissions.
Mitigation Strategies
  • Conversion of VHB’s vehicle fleet from internal combustion engine vehicles to electric vehicles.
  • Shifting purchased electricity to renewable sources.
  • Implementing green leasing practices.
  • Utilizing the capabilities of our new enterprise resource planning (ERP) software.
  • Advocating for the use of the travel platform, Navan.
  • Encouraging employees to opt for lower carbon commuting options.

Supply Chain Management

Responsible Procurement
  • Supplier Code of Conduct
  • Supplier Gateway

Climate-Related Risks & Opportunities

Reporting Standards

Frameworks Used: SBTi’s Net-Zero Standard, GHG Protocol’s Corporate Accounting and Reporting Standard

Awards & Recognition

  • ACEC-CT Diversity, Equity, Inclusion & Belonging Award
  • ACEC-NC Large Member Firm of the Year
  • Boston Business Journal Top Charitable Contributor in Massachusetts
  • And many more awards listed in the report